The topic for this week’s video is how to plant a fall vegetable garden. What’s that, you say? You’re tired of gardening? Did you know that fall vegetable crops are a lot easier to grow?
I’ve been growing a fall garden for many years. I first attempted it in 2013. At the time, I wasn’t too sure what I was doing but figured it was worth a try. I decided cool-season crops would be good candidates for it. Carrots, lettuce, Swiss chard and onions.
I initially covered the bed with hoops and some lightweight floating row cover. I later added a sheet of plastic when the really cold weather hit. My efforts weren’t roaringly successful but I was definitely hooked on the concept!
Time for a hoop house
My husband, Bill, was also intrigued with the idea of a fall garden. He proposed that we build a hoop house. This structure, also known as a poly tunnel, is covered with greenhouse-grade plastic. We teamed up to build it in October 2014. I even shot a video on the whole process, which you can watch underneath this week’s new video.
Even though I prefer to use our hoop house to this day, you can still grow your fall vegetable garden without one. Start with really cold-hardy and short-season crops. Then place some hoops over the bed, so you can add a sheet of floating row cover. It will provide a bit of frost protection. But when the temperatures really start dropping, place a sheet of clear plastic over the hoops. As I mention in the video, you’ll want to open the ends of the plastic on bright, sunny days. (that way, your crops won’t “cook”) Then remember to close those ends before nightfall.
Are you getting interested in a fall garden now? I have a new chart on my website that lists some great candidates for it. If you need to find it later, just go to the “Guides” menu and you’ll see Fall Vegetable Crops underneath it.
OK! Here’s my “Plant a Fall Vegetable Garden video:
And here is my 2014 video on building our hoop house:
Yup, that was the first year I started shooting videos. There’s no microphone and it was pretty basic. But 17,000 people have watched it, so this was apparently a popular topic.
I hope you enjoyed both videos. Did you know I now have over 630 gardening videos on my YouTube channel? All of them are designed to help you be successful at gardening! My videos come out every Thursday. I also have a Vegetable Gardening Videos playlist so you can pick and choose what you’d like to watch.